Broncos report

By Jeff Legwold and Lee Rasizer. Pat Rooney and Paul Willis contributed to this report.

Published November 20, 2007 at 12:45 a.m.

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Crowder

Joe Mahoney © The Rocky

Titans running back LenDale White fumbles in the second quarter under pressure from Broncos lineman Marcus Thomas and safety John Lynch. White, a Chatfield High School graduate, was playing for the first time as a pro in Colorado along with teammate Bo Scaife, a Mullen graduate. White gained 42 yards on 13 carries and Scaife caught four passes for 49 yards.

Henry optimistic

Travis Henry walked up the ramp to the parking lot Monday night knowing full well his future likely is riding on the next few days.

The Broncos running back, deactivated against the Titans because of a sprained left knee, was in Phoenix on Friday to plead his case in front of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Henry expects a decision perhaps as early as today.

"It was a good outcome," Henry said when asked about his hearing. "I think my lawyer prepared and everything was good. I feel good about it."

Henry faces a one-year suspension for violation off the league's substance-abuse policy. He tested positive for marijuana in August, his third offense. The Broncos had Henry do hair-sample tests and take a lie-detector to help clear the player's name.

But the league's rules hinge on a urine test, which he allegedly failed with trace amounts of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Henry was asked what he'd do if the decision went against him but he declined comment before walking away.

Numbers game

379yards compiled by Titans quarterback Vince Young, roughly 90 percent of the 423 yards collected by Tennessee. Young passed for a career-most 305 yards and added another 74 rushing yards on 11 attempts. The Titans' top two running backs, LenDale White and Chris Brown, combined for 56 yards on 16 attempts.

On the mend

Broncos receiver Javon Walker believes he'll resume workouts fully this week in preparation for a possible return Sunday at Chicago.

"I did some things to let me know that I can push through a practice," he said, after running pass routes in sweats last week.

Walker had two 100-yard receiving games, but after a Week 3 loss to Jacksonville, was declared inactive twice, then had an arthroscopic clean-out of his right knee.

Walker said a cyst was causing the early-season swelling and discomfort he was experiencing.

"We know the knee's going to come back strong. I'm not doing anything that's going to jeopardize it for the rest of the season and the future," he said.

There had been a report Walker opted against a more serious microfracture procedure that would have ended his season. The receiver previously had surgery after 2005 to fix a torn anterior cruciate ligament, so that prospect was perhaps even more daunting - if it had been true.

Walker was aware of the microfracture talk publicly but maintained the substance of the news was patently false.

"I don't know where that came from. That's not the case," he said. "A microfracture, they would have seen that years ago when . . . I tore my ACL. I think that was just people talking. It was a straight clean-out."

Not bad

When Broncos safety John Lynch left the field Monday night after taking a stiff arm from Titans tight end Bo Scaife that bent Lynch's neck back awkwardly, it appeared as if Lynch might have aggravated the injury that kept him out of two games before his return against the Titans.

"Oh, no," Lynch said with a smile. "When we went down together, (Scaife's) heel came up and hit me in the stomach. It just knocked the wind out of me."

Lynch went out of the game with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but he returned in the fourth quarter and finished the game.

After suffering a stinger against Green Bay, Lynch had missed two games as he waited for the symptoms to subside, including some numbness and tingling in his hands to go with a loss of strength in his shoulders.

But he returned to practice last week after doctors had told him the most recent injury wasn't related to the neck surgery he had after the 2003 season to remove bone chips.

"I was encouraged right from that point," Lynch said. "It was real good to be back out there."

Together again

When asked this week if he and Titans quarterback Young were friends, Broncos running back Selvin Young had a quick answer.

"Best friends," Selvin Young said. "Best friends."

The two played together at Texas - Selvin Young threw the block that sprung Vince Young for the winning touchdown in the Longhorns' national championship victory - and Monday night they were on the field together for the first time in an NFL game.

The two talk frequently, but Selvin Young said they are so competitive that even as friends they take care not to cross the trash-talk line too much.

"We try not to push any buttons. We're both competitive people, very competitive people. . . . He knows me I know him and we're not going to push any buttons."

Asked for a quick description of Vince Young's style of play, Selvin Young said, "He's a warrior."

Hook 'em Horns

During practices at the University of Texas, Vince Young essentially was off-limits to teammate Tim Crowder.

It was much of the same for the rest of the Broncos defense after Young ran around the field for much of Monday's game. But with 7:25 left in the fourth quarter, Crowder, the Broncos' rookie defensive end, got his man.

"I let him know. He tried to talk to me after the tackle and I didn't want to talk to him after that," Crowder said.

"But I used to always tell him in practice I could get him. And I got him in a game situation. I'm really going to let him know about it in Austin during the offseason."

Quick start

The Broncos had scored only one touchdown and 13 points in its first nine games on their opening drive before Brandon Stokley's 48-yard scoring catch in the first quarter. Stokley's touchdown capped an 80-yard march, the longest opening drive all season. A 69-yard drive against Pittsburgh on Oct. 21 had been the previous best.

"It's huge," Stokley said. "It gets momentum going and the crowd and your team into it. All the way around you feel good about yourself when you go down and score early."

The Broncos' 14 points in the first quarter was a season high.

Hall of records

Andre Hall's 89 yards on seven carries equates to 12.7 yards per attempt, which would have set a Broncos record for rushing average in a game if not for the fact the minimum number of attempts for that record is eight.

So, if another attempt for zero yards is factored into Hall's statistical line, he still would have averaged 11.1 yards per rush, which would trail only the record of 12.25 set by Gaston Green against Houston in 1992 and the 11.79 averaged by Clinton Portis against Chicago in 2003.

That explains it

NFL players typically don't fraternize much with opponents during pregame warm-ups, so it was somewhat curious to see two Broncos and two Titans chumming with one another in the left corner of the north end zone about 40 minutes before kickoff.

A closer look revealed the four players - Titans running backs White and Brown, Broncos tight end Daniel Graham and running back Cecil Sapp - have a Colorado connection.

White played high school football at Denver South and Chatfield; Brown and Graham played at the University of Colorado; and Sapp played at Colorado State. Each had his share of personal fans in the crowd.

"I had 50," White said. "Actually, I probably had more than that because of where I'm from, but I heard them a little bit. They were excited. They love me."

Injury report

* Running back Selvin Young, who suffered a sprained right knee, will be evaluated more today. Young left the game in the second half, but he did return for a few plays in the fourth quarter.

* Safety Hamza Abdullah left the game in the first half. Doctors were checking his pupils on the sideline and put some drops in his eyes before he returned the lineup.

* Henry (knee) did not play and was a game-day inactive, as was fullback Paul Smith who missed some practice time with a calf injury last week.

He said it

"I think we dominated them in all phases. Special teams was able to make a play. Offensively, we had three touchdowns over 40 yards. And defensively, we weren't able to get many sacks because of (Young's) ability to scramble, but we made turnovers in the game when it matters."

Dre Bly, Broncos cornerback.

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